Desmond Chan: an environmental generalist with specialist skills

In May, the Department of Social Sciences and Policy Studies (SSPS) organised a career talk for current students taking the Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Integrated Environmental Management (BSc(IEM)) programme. In the talk, Ms Olivia To and Mr Desmond Chan, two distinguished alumni from the Bachelor of Social Sciences (Honours) in Global and Environmental Studies (BSocSc(GES)) programme, were invited to share their work experiences in the sustainability industry. The two alumni also gave a few tips on how to plan one’s career.

FLASS FORWARD interviewed them after the talk to understand more about their secrets to success and how they became environmental professionals. They also talked about the eye-opening moments they had during their time at EdUHK. Dr Dennis Hui Lai-hang, programme leader of BSocSc(GES) programme and Associate Head (Learning and Teaching) of SSPS, hosted the talk.

Click here to read Ms Olivia To’s story.

Click here for a video of the career talk.

Mr Desmond Chan is a BSocSc(GES) graduate of class 2021. He is working at Hysan Development Company Limited as a Senior Officer (Sustainability). His main responsibility is to support the development and implementation of sustainable practices under the property developer’s vision of creating a more environmentally conscious and socially responsible organisation.

Before joining Hysan Development, Desmond worked in an ESG consultancy for three years, from advisory and report writing to an in-house role that involved net zero roadmap setting, climate-related disclosures, value chain engagement, and executing a corporate sustainability strategy of a local conglomerate and real estate company. His duties included upkeeping sustainability initiatives (i.e. volunteering programs), sustainability reporting (i.e. data collection) and the submission of ESG-rated awards and ratings.

Desmond is an enthusiastic person exploring different opportunities and experiences in the field of sustainability. He is currently pursuing a taught master’s degree in Sustainable Urban Development at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University. He is a student member of The Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management, and also a qualified professional in environmental management and green building. He is a member of BEAM Affiliate, LEED Green Associate, WELL AP, WiredScore AP, and more.

Desmond: I liked geography and outdoor activities when I was a secondary school student. During outdoor activities, I took many landscape photos. These subject and activities brought me closer to nature.

Most of my EdUHK studies were to broaden my horizons about sustainability. I joined an overseas study trip to Seoul where I visited sites related to the city’s pioneering environmental and smart-city policies, such as the 10.9-km-long Cheonggyecheon in the downtown of the city. I also did part-time jobs for Ocean Park Conservation Fund (OPCF) and Friends of the Earth where I obtained hands-on experiences in managing conservation programmes.

I took up a summer internship at The Harbourview in Wanchai in 2020 where I worked closely with an environmental officer, an alumna of the BSocSc(GES) programme, in the hotel’s engineering department. There, I learnt a great deal about greenhouse gases (GHGs) emissions and environmental reporting. I also helped the hotel’s environmental team to write its annual climate report. All these exposures during my EdUHK studies not only gave me first-hand experiences in environmental conservation but reinforced my commitment to the sustainability cause.

Desmond: After graduating from EdUHK, I worked at an ESG consultancy and was responsible for writing ESG reports for listed companies. I then changed to work at the sustainability team of NWS Holdings before joining my present company at Hysan Development.

At my present job, I need to support my company’s aim to reduce energy consumption and to better respond to climate-induced risks, hence enhancing my company’s public image as a green company.

Conducting climate-risk assessments is one of my team’s duties. Once the risks are assessed, my team will suggest adoptable mitigation measures to senior management. For example, adding drain outlets to high flood risk premises. We also design the company’s response mechanism in case of climate-induced incidents like flooding.

Another highlight of my present job is driving the company’s de-carbonisation endeavour. In Hong Kong, 90% of carbon emissions come from building, including domestic, commercial, and industrial buildings, and among which 80% of carbon emissions are a result of electricity generation where air-conditioning accounts for 70% of it.

To reduce carbon footprint, we need to devise a comprehensive plan to save energy. To achieve this, we need to drive different levels and different teams of the company to set up their own targets of reducing energy consumption. To lower carbon emissions, we also need to employ green practices such as waste recycling. On top of it, we need HR’s help to revise the related system such that staff can easily record and calculate their business-related carbon footprint. It is an extremely complicated work.

Desmond: Sustainability involves scientific knowledge in biology, ecology, and chemistry. It also draws on knowledge from sociology, politics, and economics. Sustainability also has an engineering dimension where building design and management, transport engineering play a role. It is a field that cuts across many different disciplines.

I learnt from my own experiences that I need to have a very broad knowledge base if I want to do my job well. For example, when I assist the company to implement a carbon emission reduction plan, I need to liaise with its property management team, which requires me to have certain knowledge about building design and property management.

While my studies at EdUHK gave me a ticket to enter the field, I have been proactively taking various courses to broaden my knowledge in sustainability. Currently, I am taking a master’s degree programme in sustainable urban development. Through these studies, I am building up my three pillars—environmental sciences, green finance, and building engineering, which I believe will give me a great advantage in my career development.

Desmond: When I was an intern, I paid attention to how my seniors reply to business emails. I found that attention to little things could result in substantial differences in communications. For example, what are the best choices of words, whether inserting graphics and other documents to the email body would help, whether the information should be presented in bullet points or table format, these are the questions we always need to be aware of if we want to make the communications effective.

I want to make a point that good interpersonal skill and effective communications start with observation. I recommend my juniors who are new to the workforce to be mindful of how your colleagues write emails, how they interact with each other, what is your company culture when it comes to communications, etc.

To have good communications, you need to think from other people’s perspective. In my experiences, finance people are very direct: they talk straight to the budget implications of a project no matter how meaningful the project is. Engineering people often focus on the technical aspect of a project: they cite many facts and figures even though the facts and figures are hard for the public to understand. I am sure if you understand their position—why they are obsessed with their considerations, your communications with them will become much smoother.

Good interpersonal skills are conducive to effective communications. There are several tips I’d like to share with my juniors on how to build up better relationships: show interest in other people’s work and life, remember details of the conversation, try to join the dots of what people said into an overarching story, be sensitive to other people’s needs, choose the right words when talking to others. And most importantly be friendly and genuine.

Desmond: From my own experiences, Gen Z actually have many ideas in analysing and tackling problems. However, they are weak in interpersonal and communications skills. They are afraid of proactively voicing out their own thoughts. But if you ask them, they have many things to share. They can even offer some very innovative suggestions.

Gen Z tend to ask for immediate satisfactions from their work, and value work-life-balance more. They treasure their time after work and place high importance to their holiday plans. Sometimes, they make air ticket and hotel reservation even before submitting their leave plans.

Just as I said above, good interpersonal and communications skills are fundamental in the workplace as well as in everyday life. I will advise my juniors to take the initiative to tell others their ideas, of course, in a polite and considerate manner. The Gen Z population is more adept at digital technologies, and supposedly has more exposures to AI. These are their strengths. They should think of how to use these strengths to the benefit of their companies.

I think it is all right to seek for work-life-balance. But at the same time, fresh graduates from BSc(IEM) programme should also understand that sustainability is a rapidly developing field. That means continuous learning to grasp global and local market trends of the industry is pivotal.

I have made steady progress in the sustainability field since graduating from EdUHK in 2021. I believe the progress is half due to my strong passion for sustainability, and the other half is because of the fact that BSocSc(GES) programme has greatly broadened my perspective. The programme offered many courses, covering both social sciences and sciences. It arranged many visits relating to environmental conservation both locally and abroad. I think my studies at EdUHK has prepared me to face my present challenges.

All in all, I am glad that what I learnt from the BSocSc(GES) programme is closely related to my previous and present works. I am particularly happy that the programme gave me a solid foundation in environmental protection. From this foundation, I’ve gradually become an environmental generalist with a few specialist strengths.

Although BSc(IEM) is different from BSocSc(GES), it bears many similarities in curriculum design. I think graduates of BSc(IEM) programme have similar advantages over other graduates when seeking job opportunities in the sustainability industry. I am confident that the BSc(IEM) programme, just like the BSocSc(GES) programme, can equip students with a very good sense and foundation for becoming an environmental specialist.